Embryonic cells - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... stem cells was discovered, and it was thought that we just might be on the threshold of an age of miracles (Cobb,2013).“Physiological studies have shown that pluripotent stem cells or embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into any kind of cell. When an egg is fertilized and it reaches the blastocyst stage i.e. 4-5 days post fertilization, the embryonic cells are formed. During normal growth these cells would differentiate into different specialized and help the baby grow in the womb.  “Stem cells are self-renewing, unspecialised cells that can give rise to multiple types all of specialized cells of the body” (Grier,2006)
Stem cell technology involves the usage of this concept and derivation of stem cells from embryos such that the cells can be used for various therapeutic purposes and medical treatments. The procedure involves isolation of the embryonic cells from the blastocyst, artificial cell culturing using broth medium which allows cell growth to give rise to an embryonic cell line and finally stimulation of differentiation of these cells to form desired and specific cells and tissues as required.
The myth is embryos are killed while harvestation of embryonic stems cells. Couples opting for IVF often have 2-3 extra embryos which they do not use and initially these embryos would end up as biomedical wastes. However, now these embryos are used for research purposes for extraction of embryonic cells which may be maintained as culture sunder laboratory conditions. Yes, it does mean that the embryo will be destroys but one needs to understand that the embryo is not a baby and is only a cluster of a few cells. It lacks organs or even lacks the human form.”Induced pluripotent embryo cells are not human organism” (Huarte & Suarez,2011) and hence ethical questions must not be raised. It rather looks like a ball than a human. Even if it was not harvested, the embryo would have to be thrown away anyways.
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